Travel isn't a luxury, it's health: what the science says

Why do we say nature is a necessity?

For thousands of years we lived surrounded by forests, mountains and open skies. Today we spend most of the day among screens, traffic and artificial light. The body feels it: stress builds up, sleep is disrupted and the mind stops resting. Going back to nature isn't escaping real life: it's returning to what the body recognizes as its place.

What happens to your body when you're in nature?

In Japan, "forest bathing" (shinrin-yoku) has been studied for decades. A study by Park and colleagues (2010) found that walking in the forest lowers cortisol, pulse and blood pressure compared with walking in the city.

At Stanford University, Bratman and his team (2015) observed that a 90-minute walk in a natural setting reduces rumination, that cycle of repetitive negative thoughts, and activity in the brain region associated with it.

And a study of nearly 20,000 people published in Scientific Reports (White and colleagues, 2019) showed that those who spend at least 120 minutes a week in nature report better health and wellbeing.

Do vacations really protect the heart?

Two of the most cited studies point in the same direction. In the Framingham study, women who rarely took vacations had a significantly higher risk of heart attack or coronary death than those who traveled regularly (Eaker and colleagues, 1992). In another nine-year follow-up of men at cardiovascular risk, those who didn't take annual vacations had a higher risk of dying than those who did (Gump and Matthews, 2000).

It isn't magic: it's real rest time for a system that lives on alert.

Why is awe good for us?

Seeing the northern lights, walking in front of a glacier or standing in silence before a mountain triggers a specific emotion: awe. Research from the University of California, Berkeley (Stellar and colleagues, 2015) found that people who feel awe often have lower levels of inflammation markers. Awe also shifts perspective: problems appear at their true size.

Doctors: those who know it best and do it least

Few professions understand the effect of stress on the body as well as medicine, and few live it so closely. In a national survey published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Shanafelt and colleagues, 2022), 62.8% of physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout.

Doctors recommend rest to their patients every day, but their own vacations often shrink to a weekend or to planning a trip between shifts and appointments. And planning is tiring too: flights, hotels, transfers, decisions. That's why many of our travelers are doctors: they arrive, and everything else is already taken care of. Their only task is to be present.

How long does the effect of a vacation last?

Less than we'd like. A meta-analysis by De Bloom and colleagues (2009) found that the health and wellbeing benefits of vacations fade in the weeks after returning. The conclusion isn't to stop traveling but to make it a habit: just as you get a check-up every year, give yourself a real trip every year.

What kind of trip truly recharges you?

• Real nature: open, remote places with little noise and dark skies.
• Disconnection: a study by Atchley, Strayer and Atchley (2012) found that after four days in nature, without devices, creative problem-solving improved by 50%.
• Small groups: sharing the experience with few people creates connection without the strain of crowds.
• Zero logistics: if you have to organize everything, you're still working. Rest begins when someone else takes care of it.

The world isn't seen, it's felt. And your body knows it before you do. If you've been saying "next year" for a while, maybe this is the moment.